News
Planet Positive Protocol, Version 2.0
29th April 2009
dcarbon8 is pleased to announce the release of the Planet Positive Protocol, Version 2.0, this month. The best practice protocol in carbon management has seen several significant changes, although the four step process to becoming Planet Positive certified remains the same. After consultation over a series of meetings with the Planet Positive Protocol Technical Committee, the Protocol has been amended to include:
1. Clearer guidelines for what is expected in terms of reduction and implementation of a Carbon Action Plan. The Carbon Action Plan incorporates a Carbon Management Vision and Strategy, with a long]term 5]year carbon reduction objective
2. A requirement that the Carbon Action Plan must contain annual, quantifiable targets, expressed in either tonnes of CO2e (absolute reduction) or any % against a chosen metric (relative reduction)
3. The condition that Planet Positive status will be revoked if reduction commitments are not met by the end of their second year of recertification. Reduction is paramount and offsetting is always the last resort.
The Planet Positive Protocol has been updated to align with the recently released Publically Available Standard 2050 (PAS 2050) for life cycle assessment. PAS 2050 builds on existing methods established through BS EN ISO 14040 and BS EN ISO 14044 by specifying requirements for the assessment of the life cycle GHG emissions of products.
As before, Planet Positive requires transparent reporting of footprint results and reduction commitments. Planet Positive continues to require responsible offsetting by accepting the best voluntary standards available on the market: the Gold Standard (GS) Voluntary Emissions Reduction (VER), Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS), Social Carbon and VER+ standard projects.
The Planet Positive mark has been tried and tested with approximately 50 Planet Positive businesses over the past two years and Planet Positive has received excellent feedback on Protocol usability and robustness. Charged with maintaining the Protocol at the forefront of carbon management, the Planet Positive Technical Committee will now begin due diligence in the areas of water footprinting and the UN Reducing Emissions for Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) mechanism for consideration in future iterations of the protocol.
For more information on the Planet Positive Protocol and to request a full copy, please contact christina@planet-positive.org or visit www.planet-positive.org